Thoughts For Tomorrow

It was in the middle of a 1994 edition of Minneapolis' alternative newspaper City Pages on which my eyes and funny bone got introduced to "The City" -- a fantastically edgy cartoon penned by Derf (John Backderf) of Ohio. I think he's only woven an Olympic-related thread into his 'toons once or twice (his online archive does not show these, but this link has one that is light on politics but heavy on humor just the same).

Derf's cartoon to take us into the inauguration (circus cannon above) is perfect on so many levels.

At home my DVD player is spinning Spike Lee's documentary "When The Levees Broke" and it came as no surprise to learn the detailed whereabouts of the 2001-09 absentee administration when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.

It is seldom that I quote The Bible, but a few lines from Proverbs 29 sort of nail it when it comes to the new arrival in Washington and the long-awaited bon voyage to the age of W.

On the inauguration:

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;

but when the wicked rule, the people groan.

On the executive branch's abominable actions in 2005 during Katrina:

A righteous man knows the rights of the poor;

a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.

And on the whole WMD bulls*t justification for Iraq War (and the advisers telling president how to handle):

If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked.

A pair of lyrics by Nina Simone will be on the brain tomorrow, with "Feeling Good" (... It's a new dawn, it's a new day ..." and "New World Coming" ( "There's a new world coming, and it's just around the bend ... ").

Rejoice!